b'In addition, Langlois believes its a good idea for growers whoYou need to get fungicide on the plant tissue you want to opt to test their seed to ask their seed labs to perform both anprotect. If plant tissue is still in the boot, its totally unprotected, Agar-plate test and a DNA test, since this will not only tell you if F.and the fungicide will be deposited on the flag leaf sheath graminearum is present in the seed, but just how much of it is there.instead. You need to have head tissues physically out so you can spray fungicide on them, Turkington says.Seed Treatment If you use a lower seeding rate, that means theres more Langlois believes treated seed is an important strategy to helpsecondary development and a wider window for potential limit FHB-related seed and seedling issues. He says while seedinfection to occur since theres a much more variable target.treatments cant prevent FHB infection caused by wind-borneTurkington recommends growers avoid planting seed spores later in the growing season, they can help limit seedlingtoo deep, since this can also result in more variable stand blights caused by F. graminearum and other seed- and soil- establishment.borne pathogens. He suggests growers pay close attention to the amount of Langlois says regardless of whether FHB is present in an area,seed-placed fertilizer to avoid phyto-toxicity that high levels of its a good practice for growers to always treat their seed with aseed-placed fertilizer may cause. registered fungicide that includes Fusarium control on the label.You want to have good separation of your seed and fertilizer, He says this will not only help avert seedling blight but alsoespecially nitrogen. This will help to promote more even reduce the potential spread of F. graminearum in a field or areagermination and better stand establishment, says Turkington.that hasnt had it before.Another benefit of using treated seed is it can help cereal cropsSprayer Technologyget off to a good start and in a better position to ward off FHB. Turkington stresses when applying fungicides in-season to fight You want to start off with good, high-quality seed and thenFHB, its essential to make sure the field sprayer is working couple that with a good quality seed treatment using goodproperly and calibrated correctly, so the fungicide is distributed application technology, which will help ensure rapid uniformas evenly and accurately as possible. seed germination, seedling growth and emergence, and standHe says spray nozzles and nozzle combinations that establishment, Turkington says.maximize spray coverage on all sides of the wheat heads are If you have a high level of Fusarium infection, and youll pickparticularly effective.that up in your seed tests, youll see a reduction in germination.You need to look at an angled nozzle setup, says Turkington. Seed treatments can help mitigate some of that if the level ofThe fungicides were using provide suppression at best. That infection isnt too high. may just be the nature of the disease were trying to control and the target were trying to hit, which is more of a vertical target. Seeding RatesThats why its important to use the right nozzle technology to Langlois recommends growers utilize higher seeding rates,try and improve coverage.since this will promote a more uniform stand, reduce tillering in plants, and result in a shorter flowering period for the cropLimiting Residue(which is the key growth stage for F. graminearum). Turkington says because F. graminearum can overwinter As Turkington points out, uniform crop development willin crop stubble, anything that can be done to facilitate ensure more uniform head emergence and a more uniformdecomposition of this residue will help remove a potential target for farmers spraying fungicides to limit FHB later on insource of inoculant. He says one of the steps growers can take is the growing season. to chop up crop residue and spread it widely over the field.40seed.ab.ca'